MARYVILLE — In July of 1976, Earl "Cheese" Scarberry and his team traveled from Ohio to attend their first Smoky Mountain Classic.

From that day on, Scarberry was hooked. Now retired, Scarberry attends each year to enjoy the tournament and spend time with friends.

"Me and a bunch of friends usually come down," Scarberry said Saturday. "We meet here every year and we'll go up to Cades Cove and stuff, but it's just seeing everyone and talking."

The prestige, the atmosphere, the fans, the players and the competition are all a major draw for Scarberry.

Though he's no longer coaching, Scarberry said it would take something serious to keep him from attending the "granddaddy of them all."

"There's more prestige to this than there are in the world tournaments," Scarberry said. "Most the tournaments you go to you would be lucky to see 25 fans and here you see people you see year after year and it's just like a big family."

As the tournament comes down to the final few games, Scarberry said seven-time Classic champion Resmondo is the team to beat.

"You have to beat the champ and they're just pretty solid," Scarberry. "They have Andy (Purcell) who is a hard pitcher to hit even though it's underhand softball."

Scarberry said he's looking forward to watching today's championship game at 12:30 p.m.

"I'm hoping to see a good game since it's been a long time since we've seen a close game with Resmondo," Scarberry said.

Laser Vision of Easton's Brian Wegman has high hopes to be that team this year.

"The Smoky is what it's all about," Wegman said. "Fans, atmosphere, vendors, competition. It's a little bit of everything. It's event he prestige. This tournament has always been the Smoky Mountain Classic and there's a reason it has that 'The' in front of it.

"There's some prestige behind it. It really is a little bit of everything, the best of the best come here, the people, the fans, it's awesome. Nothing better than the Smoky."

Easton is now in the losers' bracket after falling to 454 on Saturday night, putting any potential matchup with Resmondo in jeopardy.

"This is the most competitive field of teams as Smoky's had in the last 10 years" Wegman said. "Everything is game by game. We'll worry about tomorrow (later)."

Far from concerned, Resmondo coach John Rector said he's confident every time his team takes the field.

With seven tournament wins since 2003, his confidence is easily justified.

"This is just my opinion, but I think we're the best team in the country," Rector said. "We've won the Smoky six years in a row or whatever it is and we've won the world championship five out of the last six.

"I'm very confident in my players, but like they say, that's why you play the game. You never know."